


Rewrite

by sunkelles



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Femslash, Memory Alteration, Mind Manipulation, Shadow Weaver's A+ Parenting, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 05:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16759255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: Near the end of episode 9, Shadow Weaver tries to rewrite Adora's memories to make her back into the perfect Horde soldier.She succeeds, at least temporarily.





	Rewrite

**Author's Note:**

> the only thing that's not canon typical here is catra's one f bomb and i think if you're on the internet, you know what that word is. so. this is still g rated. 
> 
> also i knocked this out in one two hour sitting. nice job me

Adora’s brain feels like it’s turned to mush. She feels something hard and sharp against her cheeks, and she opens up her eyes. Shadow Weaver looks up at her with her glowing eyes. Her shadowy tendrils brush up gently against Adora’s parts of Adora's body like they're petting a cat. 

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver says firmly. She has a hand on each of Adora’s cheeks, fingernails digging into the skin.

“Shadow Weaver?” Adora asks cautiously. She doesn’t ever remembering the woman holding her this softly before. She doesn’t remember Shadow Weaver ever holding her at all.

“Adora, dear,” her commanding officer asks, “what do you remember?”

“I just got promoted,” Adora says. That’s the last memory that she has. She’s a force captain now. Everything beyond that is a sickening blur.

“No, you didn’t. It’s been weeks since then, dear.”

“What” Adora asks. She lost weeks' worth of memories? How does that happen? 

“Yes. You’ve had weeks worth of successful missions as a force captain.” Adora doesn’t know what to make of that. She’s already been doing her job, and she’s done it well? She feels dizzy, but she feels excited too. She’s done a good job fighting for the Horde.

“On your last mission, you took the Princess Glimmer captive,” Shadow Weaver says. Adora doesn't feel nearly as excited about that as she should. The dissonance makes her queasy. 

“My head feels so weird,” Adora says, “I don’t remember.” Shadow Weaver puts a firm hand on her shoulder.

“You will, my dear,” she promises, “you will.”

* * *

The memories come back to her in pieces. She remembers storming a village at the edge of Bright Moon, taking the Princess and her archer prisoner. The village was filled to the brim with insurgents, and she and her crew burned it to the ground. She felt nothing but righteous fury as she did it, even if the memory makes her feel a little sick. She led their force to victory, Catra and the rest of their team right behind her. She succeeded and brought glory to the Horde. 

She remembers, now, but it doesn’t feel right. She does her best not to think about it.

It doesn’t help that everyone around her is acting weird. Shadow Weaver follows her around like a doting mother, heaping praise on her at the slightest victory. She suggests ways to improve the squad, and whenever it seems that someone is acting up, Shadow Weaver sets them straight with a glare or a terrifying vision. They all seem awkward around Adora, even more awkward than seems natural with Shadow Weaver's new routine and her half-there memories. 

It feels _wrong._ She doesn’t need this level of supervision, and she doesn’t warrant this level of attention. She is capable of leading her own squad, but she barely gets a moment alone, even for Catra.

The first time that she gets a chance, she corners her best friend to talk to her. Catra tries to run away and Adora has to physically chase her into a corner to get her to talk. Catra seems pissed that she would stoop this low. She says it. 

"What the fuck, Adora?" she asks, making the k at the end of fuck as loud and abrasive as possible. 

“Catra, you’ve been acting weird ever since the mission. We captured Princess Glimmer. That’s a huge victory.” If they can get the princess to break, or get the queen to break down and come surrender herself for her daughter, Bright Moon is as good as theirs. This fight will be over. The Horde will finally be able to bring the order and stability that this world so desperately needs.

“Yeah,” Catra says, laughing bitterly, “ _we.”_

“Are you _still_ mad about my promotion?”

“What do you think, _force captain?”_ Catra demands, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You resent me,” Adora says.

“I resent everyone. You’re not special, Adora.” That’s not even a lie, really. Catra's always resented just about everything. It's what made her the problem child to Adora's prodigy. It's why Shadow Weaver always liked Adora so much better.

She sighs. She knew that becoming Catra’s commanding officer wasn’t going to be easy, but she didn’t think it would be this _hard_. She wants her best friend back. She wants the Catra that jokes with her and supports her and always makes her smile. She wants the one that makes her heart flutter when she looks Adora's way.

“But once we settle in, do you think you’ll get used to it?” Adora asks.

“Get used to what?” Catra asks.

“Me being force captain. Maybe you’ll even be promoted too.” Adora sends her a shy smile.

“Then we can run this place together, just like you’ve always wanted.” Catra looks almost ready to just accept her offer. She looks so interested, but Adora can see her push the thought away.

“You’re about six betrayals too late, Adora,” Catra says.

“What do you mean?” Adora asks. She doesn’t get it. When did she betray Catra? By becoming force captain? Adora reaches her hand out and tries to take Catra’s. The other girl bats it away. With her claws.

“Ow!” Adora screeches. She draws her hand back close to her chest, blood starting to run down her cuts. She has no clue what’s set Catra off so much, but she wants it to stop.

“Catra, please. I want us to go back to the way things were before.” Catra smiles, but it’s not happy a happy smile. It’s sad and bitter. If Adora didn’t know better, she’d say there was something remorseful to it as well.

“It can’t, Adora. We can never go back. You’ve made sure of that.” What did Adora _do_ in her missing weeks? How did she ruin years and years of friendship with Catra?

“Catra, I don’t know what I did, but I want to make it up to you. You’re my best friend.” Catra laughs even harder at that.

“What is so _funny?”_ Adora demands, shoving her hand beside Catra’s head. She presses her face closer to lean in. _Make eye contact with me. Tell me what I did wrong. Give me something, Catra._

Catra looks her dead in the eyes.

“Talk to the prisoner,” she says, “Maybe then you’ll find out.” Then, Catra slips under her arms and scampers out of the corridor. She always was quick and agile. Must be one of those cat instincts kicking in.

Adora sighs. She doesn’t know what to make of that, but she decides that she should at least try it.

* * *

The guards aren’t happy to let her see Princess Glimmer, but she outranks them so they can’t exactly refuse. Adora waltzes into Shadow Weaver’s room in a way that she only can because she’s the sorcerer’s favorite.

Princess Glimmer is being held in stasis by a magical, power dampening garnet. Adora doesn't know exactly how it works, but she understands some of the basics. Mainly she just knows that it keeps the girl from using her powers and it hurts like hell. It would be inhumane if princesses were human. She cringes from the thought, but she's not sure why. That's what the Horde taught her to think, why would she feel any differently? 

Glimmer’s pink hair has started to turn brown with the build of grime, and she looks exhausted in her bonds. Adora wonders how much the girl has been fed in the weeks since her capture. It must not have been much. 

“Princess Glimmer,” Adora says coldly. The girl lifts her head immediately like a happy little dog. Her eyes sparkle when she looks up to see her. Part of her thinks it's pathetic, but another part of her thinks it's endearing. 

“Adora!” she squeals. 

“Why do you look so excited to see me?” Adora asks, trying to keep her voice as threatening as she can, “I’m the force captain that brought you in. I’d think you would hate me.” The girl’s excitement melts away as quickly as it had appeared.

“Shadow Weaver was telling the truth,” Princess Glimmer says, “she _did_ mess with your memories.”

“What do you mean?” Adora demands.

“She deleted all the time that you spent with me,” the princess’s voice gets caught in her throat, “she made you back into her perfect Horder soldier.” Tears well up in the other girl’s eyes. Adora feels a strange urge to comfort her.

“I’ve always been a Horde soldier,” Adora says cautiously.

“No you haven’t,” the girl says, anger and passion in her voice, “you don’t fight for them anymore. I stood for you when you swore your allegiance to the rebellion. You’re my _friend.”_ Her voice catches on that last word, and the tears fall enough faster that they look like a waterfall streaming down her face.

“Look,” Adora says, “I don’t know what’s up, but I’m not who you think I am. I took you captive. I’m not your friend.” She has a faint memory of knocking the other girl in, dragging her onto the Horde ship and proudly presenting her to Shadow Weaver herself. Glimmer laughs a wet sounding laugh. 

“I took _you_ captive,” Glimmer says. Suddenly, there’s a different memory in her brain- a more vivid one. She remembers meeting Glimmer in the forest, along with a tall boy with a kind face and tall hair. He was excitable and kind, even when she was his prisoner. She remembers a pillar of light, a sword- a transformation. She remembers saving people.

Adora feels a wrongness in her brain. She holds her hand up to her head cautiously.

“What did you _do_ to me?” Adora whispers, “I- I remember things that _didn’t happen.”_ Those things couldn’t have happened. That’s not what Shadow Weaver said. Shadow Weaver didn't tell her about any swords, or first ones tech, or princesses that put their lives on the line because they _believe_ in her. 

Glimmer’s eyes and smile both widen.

“I made you remember,” she whispers.

“Those weren’t my memories,” Adora says, but she’s not certain of that anymore. She remembers the strange looks that her squad sent her, the almost motherly way that Shadow Weaver has acted lately. Nothing has struck her as stranger than Catra’s outright dismissal of her. The memories that Shadow Weaver says are hers don’t feel right in her brain. They don’t quite line up with reality.

She doesn’t know what Princess Glimmer is to her, but she doesn’t think that it’s just an evil, destructive girl that she took captive. She doesn't think that Glimmer seems evil or destructive at all. 

“No you haven’t,” Glimmer says, “you’re my _friend_. You’re a fighter for the rebellion, a princess of power.”

“No,” Adora says, but even now she knows Glimmer’s words are true. She can feel it in her gut.

“You’re _She-Ra,”_ Glimmer says, and she looks to her with shining eyes. They’re full of hope and admiration. Adora doesn’t know what to make of that. The memories hit Adora like a train. She _remembers_. She wielded an enormous, ancient sword, growing to great heights and gaining great power. She fought in the name of the defenseless, the innocent. She made friends. She abandoned the Horde. She rejected Catra more times than she can count. She even fought Shadow Weaver and _won._

“Glimmer,” Adora says, “I am so sorry.” Glimmer squeals.

“You’re back! Oh thank god, you’re back!” Adora’s head hurts, but she knows that it’s from fighting off the memories that Shadow Weaver planted in her brain.

“Now let me out and we’ll get out of her together,” Glimmer says. Adora is ready to rush forward and save her friend, but then the door bursts open. Shadow Weaver slithers in.

“Adora, what are you doing here? Are you interrogating the prisoner?” she demands. Maybe Adora should lie. Strategically, it would be better to go along with Shadow Weaver’s assumptions and save Glimmer later, but Adora’s not one for scheming or lying- even before she became She-Ra she liked to confront her problems head on.

“I’m rescuing my friend,” she growls. Shadow Weavers shadows seem to encroach on her.

“Oh,” the woman that raised her says, “how unfortunate. And here I was hoping that I could keep you in the dark a little bit longer.” She lets her shadows extend, and suddenly they're creeping through the room like fast growing vines. It makes Adora feel tiny and trapped and terrified. She feels like a little girl who can't escape the grasp of that woman all over again. 

“You can’t keep us here forever!” Glimmer shouts. Shadow Weaver’s shadows slink up Glimmer’s body and one of them wraps around her mouth. Glimmer tries to shout through it, but it’s no use. She can’t talk.

“Ah,” Shadow Weaver says, “now that I’ve taken care of your little friend, I can take care of you. A little memory readjustment will do the trick, don’t you think?”

“You can’t keep me from remembering forever,” Adora say. “the team treats me like a pariah! Catra hates me! Even if you rewrite my memories, I’ll remember again. You’ll have to do this over and over again.” She knows that Shadow Weaver hates having to work with useless cases. The more times that people fight against her, the less worthy they are in her eyes. Maybe this will discourage her from trying so hard with Adora, even though she was always the Golden Student before she defected.

“Then I just rewrite their memories too,” Shadow Weaver says, like it's the most obvious solution in the world. 

“You can’t do that,” Adora says. Her head still feels like it went through the Horde's nausea-endurance training camp five times over. She couldn’t imagine Shadow Weaver putting every single one of her former teammates through that.

“I don’t have to rewrite anyone’s memories if you just come back willingly,” Shadow Weaver says, “here you can be great. You can be with your family again. The rest of them will get used to it eventually.” Adora glares.

“Not all of them,” she says. She would never consider coming back, but even if she did, the one person who matters wouldn’t still be her waiting for her.

“Ah, you mean Catra. I know you hold some affection for the girl, lord knows why.” Adora feels something cold run up her spine. Oh. It’s Shadow Weaver’s hand. She rests it on Adora's shoulder and grasps it firmly. She can feel Shadow Weaver’s cold breath on her ear, feel her icy shadow tendrils clawing at her back and the back of her legs. She can feels them wrap around her arms, consuming her.

Then, she whispers the next part into Adora’s ear, “I can rewrite her memories too. I could let you two have that fairy tale romance that you always wanted. All you have to do is say yes.” Adora sees the image in her mind clearly, she and Catra dancing at a ball, Catra dapper and charming in a perfectly fitting suit. There’s a tension to their dancing- they were enemies in the memory, but Shadow Weaver changes the picture.

Catra’s arrogant smirk turns friendly and teasing again, and the scene turns to flirting between two girls that are on the same side. Their hands are entwined. Catra dips her, then, they fly across the floor, smiling and laughing.

“I want to lead this time,” Not Her says, “you _always_ do.”

“Aye, aye force captain,” Not Catra says with an eye roll, and then the dance starts again. It feels so real, and so right, and for a moment it's the only thing that Adora wants in the world. She wants to twirl around on a dance floor with Catra, pretending that they're the only people in the world that matter. 

“You can have whatever you want, Adora,” Shadow Weaver says, “just come back home. To your family.” Adora’s breath hitches in her throat, and she's broken out of her dream. Suddenly, all she sees is Shadow Weaver weaving darkness and discord over her. Glimmer is there behind her, silenced, in pain. She's trying to shout something through the shadow clamped over her mouth.

Adora feels guilt wrap itself around her throat. There would be no room in that world Shadow Weaver showed her for Glimmer, or for Bow, or the other princesses, or any of the innocent civilians that Adora has met on her way. There wouldn't even be room for Catra's free will, because Catra would never _choose_ to be with her again. It makes Adora feel a little sick that she was so close to giving into Shadow Weaver's deceptions. 

But she didn't. She knows who her family is now, and she knows right from wrong. Glimmer and Bow are her family, and fighting to protect Etheria from the Horde is what's right. She has a true purpose now and a _real_ family now. One that doesn’t manipulate her, or kidnap children, or destroy lives. One that doesn’t pit children like Adora and Catra against each other for fun. She's already rewritten her destiny. She won't let Shadow Weaver take that from her now. 

Adora forces her elbow backwards into Shadow Weaver’s boob, making sure that it’s the hardest and most painful blow that she can manage. Then she kicks backwards into her knee, just for good measure. The woman yelps and all of her extra shadows come back into her main form.

“Adora! Come get me out!” Adora rushes over to Glimmer and breaks her holdings. She doesn’t think that Glimmer can handle walking with how long she’s been in that terrible position, so she just scoops her up bridal style to escape. Glimmer looks up at her with wide, shimmering eyes.

“My hero,” she says. Adora tries not to blush.

“Adora!” Shadow Weaver shouts, forcing herself off the ground, “come back here! Come home!” Adora slams open the door and she runs through the corridor. She runs through the complex. Then, she steals an escape pod and she and Glimmer finally go _home_.

She doesn’t look back.

**Author's Note:**

> please ignore anything that doesn't work with canon past episode 9 i literally have not seen past that. i was hit by the inspiration bug and the fic wrote itself


End file.
